Press Release 14 January 2010

Flatpack Festival unveils 2010 programme

23 - 28 March 2010 Birmingham, UKBus trips to art deco cinemas, the weird world of puppets, immersive art happenings,Murnau rescored, optical illusions, idea theft and creepy 70s television are just some ofthe inventive offerings that will be brought to life during the 2010 edition ofBirmingham’s unique Flatpack Festival.

With fresh eyes, a sense of occasion and film culture popping up in an eclectic arrayof unexpected spaces and places, Flatpack Festival 2010 offers a platform for newfilmmakers and moving image creativity together with a playful and originalprogramme of cult classics re-imagined, silent cinema re-scored and archive materialre-invented.

Taking place in locations across Birmingham including warehouse spaces, art galleries,a social club, a specially constructed cardboard cinema and the sites of some of theUK’s first Odeons designed in the 1930s, Flatpack’s joyous visual adventure takes placefrom 23 – 28 March 2010.

The festival will be launched with a rare screening of FW Murnau’s 1927 Oscar-winningromance Sunrise, accompanied by a newly commissioned live score by jazz pianistAlcyona. Highlights for 2010 include a celebration of puppets in classic andcontemporary film; a special exploration of the 1930s from cinema design toBirmingham’s literati; plus Dublin collective Synth Eastwood present one of theirlegendary events, on the theme of ‘a shared view’.

Optical illusions and reconfigured technology come courtesy of French artist JulienMaire; Ghost Box records present a Sunday feast of haunted audio and creepy 70stelly at Belbury Youth Club; and there is also a rare chance to have your head meltedby the pioneering work of structuralist filmmaker Takashi Ito.

All manner of talks and demos will take place around themes of archive, puppetryand plagiarism at Flatpack’s established show-and-tell day Unpacked; plus screeningsof new animation, documentary, a programme of music-inspired films, cult late-nightcinema in partnership with Electric Sheep; a host of new features by emergingfilmmakers, and weird and wonderful films and activities for kids in Colour Box.

The full programme and more special events will be announced in early February.